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only as it ministered to humai,life. He"bated
shams of every sbrt, because ho saw that they
soparated men; he despised conventionalities, for
ho know they were as fetters or. the souls of his
brothers. In his boyhood he experienced the bit
terness of struggle. The battle of life sharpened
his intellect, but did not dull his sensibilities. By
Bhecr force of ability, honestly applied, he won a
largo measure of success, even as success is esti
mated In our commercial age. And this brings
me to the definite thing I would say. Mr. Ben
nett did not forget his past; his heart, to the very
lost, was with the people. The burning sin among
our strong and successful men lies in the fact
that they forget their past Sprung from the peo
ple they forget the people. In many instances
those who are most bitter agains the great masses
of laboring men are the Very ones who have risen
from the ranks of labor. As I study men I find
that worldly success has a way of changing their
sympathy. It was not so with Mr. Bennett The
cause of the people, those who could not speak
foiv themselves, those who were doing the world's
hard work the cause of the people was nearer his
heart than the Interests of his own affairs. Sim
ple, modest, unassuming no man, however hum
ble his labor, but found in him a brother. He bc
llGved in Christ, and in Christ's idea of brother
hood. How devotedly he gave himself his time,
his strength, his means, to the realization of this
dream of brotherhood is known to you far bet
ter than to myself. His whole life was' a valiant
service in the interests of justice and mercy and
truth. On every hand men are saying of him
that he could not rest until he got to the bottom
of things; and I firmly believe that we honor one
today whose heart was set, above everything else,
on reality.
"Reality! how this word brings us .back to the
sacred mystery of the hour. 'If a man die shall he
live again?' It is a question old as the world.
And to that question there is only ono answer:
it is the answer of the good life. In the hour of
supreme sorrow all our arguments and speculations
crumble into nothingness. The soul must be a
witness to itself of its own eternal nature. If
you would believe in the immortal life, go live as
though you were immortal. Face your life as this
man faced his, and the future need hold no fears
for you. Wealth, fame, honor all these sweep
by and on; the love of God tha. bindeth men to
gether in brotherhood this is the undying real
ity." The floral tributes were numerous and beau
tiful, the most conspicuous being an elaborate
wreath from the employes In t'-'e store.
Mr. Bryan interrupted his Chautauqu.- work
long enough to attend the obsequies. His re
marks at tho grave were as follows:
"At another time I shall take occasion to speak
of the life of Philo Sherman Bennett and to draw
some lessons from his career; today I must con
tent myself with offering a word of comfort to
those who knew him as husband, brother, relative
or friend and as a friend I need a share of this
comfort for myself. It" is sad enough to consign
to the dust the body of one we love how infinitely
more sad if we were compelled to part with the
spirit that animated this tenement of clay. But
the best of man does not perish. We bury the
brain that planned for others as well as for its
master, the tongue that spake words of love and
encouragement, tho hands that were extended to
those who needed help and the feet that ran
whero duty directed, but the spirit that dominated
and controlled all rises triumphant over the grave.
Wo lay away the implements with wnlch he
wrought, but the gentle, modest, patient, sympa
thetic, loyal, bravo and manly man whqm we
knew is not dead and cannot die. It would be
unfair to count tho loss of his departure without
counting tho gain of his existence. The gift of
his life we have and of this tho tomb cannot de
prive us. Separation, suddon and distressing as it
is, cannot take from tho companion of his life the
recollection of forty years of affection, tender
ness and confidence, nor from others the memory
of helpful association with him. If the sunshine
which a baby brings into a homo, even if its so
journ is brief, cannot bo dimmed by its death; if a
child growing to manhood or womanhood brings
to the parents a development of heart and head
that outweighs any grief that its demise can cause,
how much more does a long life full of kindly
deeds leave us indebted to the Father who both
gives and takes away. The night of death makes
us remember with gratitude the light of tho day
that has gone while we look forward to the
morning.
, VT!ie imPress lnade hy the lifo is lasting. Wo
think it wonderful that we can by means of the
telephone, or the telegraph talk to those who are
many mileB away, but the achievements of tho
heart are even more wonderful, for the heart that
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Commoner.
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" gives inspiration to another heart influences all
tho generations yet to borne. What finite mind,
then, can measure the influence of a life that
touched so many lives as did our friend's?
To tho young, death is an appalling thing, but
it ought not to be to those whoso advancing years
warn them of its certain approach. As we jour
ney along life's road we must pause again and
again to bid farewell to some fellow traveler. In
the course of nature the father and the mother die,
then brothers and sisters follow, and finally tho
children and the children's children cross to tho
unknown world beyond one by one 'from love's
shining circle the gems drop away' until the
'king of terrors' loses his power to affright us and
tho Increasing company on the farther shore mako
us first willing and then anxious to join them.'
It is God's way. It is God's way.
JJJ
Education.
"Knowledge," said Daniel Webster, "does not
comprise all which is contained in the large term
of education. The feelings are to be disciplined;
the passions are to be restrained; true and worthy
motives are to be inspired; a profound religious
feeling is to be instilled and pure morality incul
cated under all circumstances, all this is com
prised in education."
One's education is by no means completed
with the close of a college course. Graduation day
is called "Commencement" because it is the be
ginning of the struggle with life; und in order to
make the struggle successful, the student must riot
permit his studies to terminate with the delivery
of his diploma. He must strive to learn some
thing new each day; and, after all', the life of a
successful person is really a process of education.
Some of our most successful men have been
denied the privilege of a college education and yet
it is safe to -say that every one of these men have
on many occasions been made to( realize the fact
that if they had been given a c6llege education,
their struggle in the battle of life woujd have been
cbnsidera'bly easier. ''
It is important, therefore, that every young
man and 'young woman avail themselves of the
opportunity of obtaining a college education Which
is, indeed, but preparation for an active and suc
cessful life.
The publisher of The Commoner has presented
to Commoner readers a plan- whereby young men
and younff women who are embarrassed U their
efforts to obtain a collegiate course may surmount
obstacles on that line.
. Attention Is directed to tho proposed plan as
it appears in another column of this issue.
Further details will be provided upon appli
cation to this office and the publisher will be
gratified if every Commoner reader will manifest
interest in this plan and direct the attention of
the young' men and young women of his neigh
borhood to the offer.
JJJ
"The Price of Exclusiveness."
Congressman Hepburn delivered a tariff
speech at Creston, la., August 10. In that speech
Mr. Hepburn repudiated the "no shelter to mo
nopoly" plank in the Iowa republican platforms
of 1901 and 1902, and said that he was well satis
fied that that plank is -not to be found in the
Iowa platform for 1903.
Mr. Hepburn confessed admiration for the
Xingley tariff bill of which he said: "Its schedules
were determined upon after careful, laborious and
painstaking study; they were adopted as the real
and proper duties that would give the power of
production to our people;" and he made this state
ment in spite of the fact that in a speecL delivered
in the senate at the last session, Senator Dolliver
?l Ii declared that Mr. Dingley had admitted
that all the rates in his. bill were purposely placed
high in order that they might serve as a basis for
reducUo ies and becomQ subject to radical
t IW,th?'flne disPlay f Pride, Mr. Hepburn said:
i Ti? a little more than sIx years since President
McKinley gave the Dingley bill his approval," but
Mr. Hepburn omitted to say that it is a little less
than two years since President McKinley prac
tically withdrew his approval from that bill. In
?t 8i5eS?.h dred at Buffalo, September 5, 1901,
Mr. McKinley said: "Wo must not repose in fan
cied security that wo can forever sell evcrvthinc
and buy little or nothing. If such a thing were
possible it would not be best for us or for those
with whom wo deal. We should take from our
customers such of their products as jve can uso
without harm to our industries and labor. Reci-
fni ILm T111?1 outgrowth of qur wonder
ful Industrial development under -the domestic
policy now firmly established. What we produco
'VOLUME 3, NUMBER 32.
beyond" our domestic consumption 'must w.,
vent abroad The excess must le relievpH ilVC a
a foreign oWlet, and we ahSuldrweSSiS
we can and buy whenever the buying win ZuS
our sales and productions, and thefebv mS
greater demand for home labor, ill period o
clusiveness is past The erpansion o ! our U-Sl
and commerce is the pressing problem cL d
cial wars are unprofitable. A policy of JSm!
and friendly trade relations will present Si J "
Reciprocity, treaties are in harmony S "
I? i timeSJ meaSUres oeStion not
IZ perchance some of our tariffs nro i
needed for revenue or S entourage and ??? J
our industries at home, why should they not hi
SSSSr t0 GXtend and PrteCt A
JJJ
Bribing Congressmen.
In last'week's Commoner was some correspon
dence g yen to the public by Congressman Baker
of Brooklyn. It shows that tne railroads are is
suing passes to congressmen- in spite of the Blkins
law, and it must also be evident toaf y reSsonafiS
person that the, railroads do not issue passes for
. the pleasure of issuing them. , .
Washington is so far away from the averace
, constituent that the congressmen can help the
rai roads without detection, and evidence is not
lacking to show that both tho railroads and
many congressmen understand this.
w wJJwf cbneress a large sum Was given to
both the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania
railroads to aid in the construction of depots and
ue representatives of the road were hanging
about the capitol freely using passes. Ono of the
lobbyists had a record of the Vote and rewarded
those who Voted for the appropriation and re
fused passes to those who voted againSt the com
pany's demands. a
Governor La Follette might add a paragraph
to his Chautauqua lecture and show how the pass
is used to bribe congressmen and' representatives.
Mr. Baker, who calls attention to the pass
custom, is from the state of New York. It is an
encouraging i sign that the protest comes from
the east and it is to be hoped that it will be taken
up by the congressmen from the 'west- and south.
JJJ
?r
La Follette an Anarchist.
The Chicago Chronicle announces that a Wis
consin newspaper "which has "been a staunch sup
porter of Governor La Follette" has been alien
ated by the governor's "anarchistic conduct."
The aforesaid Wisconsin paper is -quoted as
saying that it can no longer support -the gov
ernor. So La Follette is now an anarchist, is he?
What has hd been doing to earn the title? Simplv
denouncing corporation rule, that is all. He has
pointed out how the corporations corrupt the bal
lot; and even legislatures and has called upon the
honest republicans to rise up and save their party
trom disgrace and their country from dangej, and
lor this appeal he is denounced as an anarchist.
The republican leaders have no use fcr a re
fm.eA La, Fo"ette will have to light for his
life if he tries to free his party from the demor
alizing influences of corporate domination. He
will probably appreciate the fight that the demo
cratic party made in 1896 and 1900.
JJJ
Indorse The Platform.
The coiinty conventions are now being held
in many states and the only sure- way
to prevent the reorganizers from stealing a
march on the voters is to indorse the -Kansas City
platform and instruct the delegates to coun'v
and state conventions to indorse it. . Thin ought
to be done at caucuses and primaries as well as
at precinct and county conventions, An indorse
ment of the national platform covers all national
questions. A failure to indorse can only be con
strued as cowardice or as opposition to the plat
form. If any one opposes indorsement on the
ground that he is orposed to the saver plank, tell
mm to offer a platform indorsing the financial
policy of the republican party and let the demo
crats choose between the platforms.
If the republican policy is too good to be de
nounced, it is, good enough to be indorsed. If our
party is wrong on the money question an honest
admission is better than evasion. But the reor
ganizers dare not indorse the gold standard; they
prefer a silence which they can construe as an
abandonment of the party's position.
Let the: Kansas City platfprni democrats de
mand an honest fight for principles ,and their
vindication will not long be delayed.
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